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MDC rejects Zim unity govt bid
30/06/2003 11:44 - (SA)
Harare - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has rejected the idea of forming a unity government with President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union - Partriotic Front party.
Mugabe's re-election last year has been contested by Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change.
"We are not at all going to negotiate a government of national unity with Zanu-PF," Tsvangirai was quoted as saying in Monday's independent Daily News.
"The MDC can only negotiate the issue of a transitional authority which will work towards resolving the issue of legitimacy in a process in which the people of Zimbabwe have a say through a free and fair election."
Tsvangirai ran against Mugabe for the presidency in March last year in a vote which the opposition has decried as riddled with fraud and marred by intimidation and violence.
Inflation at 300% a year
The MDC is contesting the result of the election - which returned Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, to power - before the courts.
The MDC's refusal to recognise Mugabe as Zimbabwe's legitimately elected leader resulted in the breakdown of talks between Zanu-PF and the MDC.
The talks were aimed at pulling Zimbabwe out of its deep political, social and economic crises.
Inflation is running at more than 300% a year, about 70% of the active population is unemployed, and about half of the total population of 11.6 million is facing famine, mainly due to a severe drought and chaotic land reforms launched by Mugabe's government.
Tsvangirai, meanwhile, faces two separate charges of treason.
The one arises from an alleged plot to "eliminate" Mugabe before the 2002 election.
The second, brought early this month, was for allegedly calling for the violent ousting of the government after a week of MDC-organised protests against the regime.
Treason is punishable by death in Zimbabwe.
- AFX
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